40 Hospital Benchmarks

Here are 40 hospital benchmarks to help evaluate how your hospital performs on various measures of quality, patient experience, finance and operations.

Quality

The following information is from CMS' Outcome of Care Measures report, unless otherwise marked. Percentages reflect the national average and are calculated from Medicare data on patients discharged between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2009.

Patient ExperienceThe following data is from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems' “Survey of Patients’ Hospital Experiences” data, which was collected in 2009. Percents reflect the national average.

12. Patients who reported they would "definitely" recommend a hospital — 69 percent.13. Patients who reported staff "always" explained medicines before delivering it to them — 60 percent.14. Patients who reported their physicians "always" communicated well — 80 percent.15. Patients who reported their nurses "always" communicated well — 75 percent.16. Patients who reported that the area around their room was "always" quiet at night — 57 percent.17. Patients who reported they “always” received help as soon as they wanted — 63 percent. 18. Patients who reported that staff “always” explained medicines before administering it to them — 60 percent.19. Patients who reported that their pain was “always” well controlled — 69 percent. 20. Patients who gave their hospital a rating of 9 or 10 on a scale from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest) — 66 percent.

Finance

The following data is from Healthcare Management Partners’ HMP Metrics Quarterly Report, 2010. Quartile rankings were assigned based on the mean values calculated for the hospitals within peer groups. The first quartile contains the top 25 percent of the best performing hospitals in an applicable peer group. The fourth represents those falling below 76 percent. The following reflects the mean average.

The following data is from Healthcare Management Partners’ HMP Metrics Quarterly Report, 2010. Quartile rankings were assigned based on the mean values calculated for the hospitals within peer groups. The first quartile contains the top 25 percent of the best performing hospitals in an applicable peer group. The fourth represents those falling below 76 percent. FTE reflects full-time equivalents.

* Average age of plant measures the average age of the hospital including capital improvements and major equipment purchases. A higher age compared to its peers indicates that the hospital has deferred the replacement of its capital when compared to its peers, which can lead to further distress